Site #5

We had a short but enjoyable (and much needed) weekend.  The drive up to Tomoka SP (Ormond Beach area) on Friday was good; we arrived around 6:30 pm, and in about 15 minutes we were set up.  We were in Site #5; a nice site, but backing a 27′ trailer into it was tight.  But we managed to shoe-horn it in and got set up.  Just before we left for this trip, I pulled the trigger and bought a box of those Linx Levelers.  I liked the idea that they all stacked nicely in their own zippered container, and they looked like they’d do a pretty good job for under the tongue jack, BAL jacks, and under a tire or two if we needed to level the trailer from side to side.  Well, we didn’t need to level the trailer, the site was quite level already.  But we did use them under the BAL jacks and the tongue jack (you can see them in the first picture – bright orange), and they worked beautifully!  I liked them so much that I picked up a second pack just in case we get into a pretty lob-sided site sometime and I need the extra help.  I’ll put up a review of them shortly.

Road to Park

The drive into Tomoka State Park is one of the nicest drives I’ve done in Florida.  If you drive in from the South, you’ll drive though a neighborhood then suddenly enter a wooded area before reaching the park entrance.  From the North you’ll drive though a swamp area then into a wooded area leading up to the park entrance.  This road (leading to the park entrance) is long, straight, and reminencent of old Florida, with palm scrub so thick you’d have a tough time walking through it, and live oak trees with its Spanish moss hanging down makes for a nice archway all along the road.  I snapped this picture from the middle of the road, and I thought it did a pretty good job capturing the effect of the drive.

Park Sign

The park entrance: sign and road leading in, are about 1/2 way down this long and canopy-covered road.  The ranger station is just a short drive in.

Park Entrance Road

When we arrived, we had a lot of people show up behind us.  There must have been 7 or 8 cars lined up behind.  The park ranger asked us to pull over to the side so the others could get through while I register, but it appeared everyone else behind me had the same idea.  I soon found myself parked in, pinned up against a tree, and had to wait until some of the others finished registering and moved their cars before I could get out.  So I supposed getting there ‘first’ didn’t make any difference this time.  But it didn’t matter; we were in nooooo hurry.

Campsite Loop Road

The entire weekend (at least for me) was spent relaxing.  With the exception of a couple of walks around the campground with Sandy, and a quick trip to the grocery store Saturday night, I spent most of my time either sitting outside listening to the radio or briefly watching some of the NCAA games.  That Villanova / Pitt game was a good one!

Sandy on Ramp

During one of the walks, Sandy crawled up onto a ramp and laid down: I couldn’t let that picture get away.

Other than a storm that went through at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning, accompanied by some very loud thunder, and our built-in microwave giving up the ghost on its first-ever use, the weekend went very well.  Not sure what happened with the microwave; we tried to pop a bag of popcorn, turned on the microwave, heard a loud hissing sound while sparks flew from behind the control panel, and then the thing died.   Guess I’ll be giving KZ a call Monday morning; good thing its under warranty!

Sorry, but I didn’t get too many pictures this weekend; I was too busy veg’ing.  I’ll snap more pics’ on my next trip!

Adios!

Laura and I spent the morning working on the trailer.  We did some cleaning, I put some sealant around the shower area to help keep shower water where it’s supposed to be, installed a TP holder (sorry… didn’t get a picture of that), installed a television bracket so we can take the TV along with us (more on that on the TV modifications page), and took some measurements so I can build some wheel chocks and a tube to hold the stinky-slinky.  Hope to have the wheel chock mod completed in the next few days.

Trailer

I snapped this picture of the trailer all set up – thought it looked pretty good.

Equalizer Hitch

For the past several years I have been using a standard hitch and friction-type sway control device.  I was towing a p’up camper, and never had a need for a weight distribution hitch, and the friction-type sway control arm was sufficient.  When we decided to upgrade to a travel trailer and all the additional weight we will be pulling, I figured it was time to start looking for a good weight distribution hitch with anti-sway control.  My research took me in many directions and I discovered that no two hitches are created equal (so-to-speak).

There are some highly rated hitches out there, such as the Hensley Arrow, but they come with some hefty price tags as well.  I set out to find a hitch that gave me the most bang for my buck, and if the Hensley was that hitch, then I was willing to part with the nearly $3000.00 for one.  After much reading and comparing, I decided upon the Equal-i-zer system.

The Equal-i-zer can be purchased for around $420.00 for a 10,000 lb. hitch.  Among this price-level of hitch, the Equal-i-zer and the Reese Dual-Cam setup seem to be the two favorites, the Reese a bit more expensive.  They both are quality hitches.  One question I had was that, at approximately $420.00 for an Equal-i-zer hitch, and the Hensley hitch at about seven times that price ($3000.00), would I be getting a hitch that is significantly (seven times) better with the Hensley than with the Equal-i-zer.  My initial determination was that I would not.

I spent several weeks reading about the various anti-sway weight distribution systems on the market, and I eventually narrowed it down to the Equal-i-zer and Reese brands.  From what I read, they both had their pros and con’s.  The Equal-i-zer came with a shank, the Reese required purchasing one separately.  Most people seemed to think that the Reese has better sway control.  The Equal-i-zer seemed easier to hook up.  It really was a toss-up between the two; both hitches have a huge following, and owners of either hitch will tell you that the other hitch is equally good.  So after all the reading and researching, these two seemed to be in a class by themselves but no clear-cut winner between the two.

I initially decided on the Reese Dual Cam.  I began looking around for the best price, ready to make the purchase.  But all the while I couldn’t let go of what appeared to be an easier hookup of the Equal-i-zer hitch.  So, I changed my decision, and immediately ordered the Equal-i-zer.  Then I sat back, crossed my fingers, and hoped I made the right choice.

I had read the installation instructions several times before the hitch arrived, so when the day came to install the hitch I could have done it in my sleep.  In about 1 hour I had the entire hitch set up to the standard specifications.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to give it much of a test on my first trailer tow; I only towed it about 1 mile back to the dealer for a repair it required.  I would have to wait another three weeks to give the hitch a good assessment.

When I picked up the trailer after the repair was completed, I hooked up the hitch and set out for a 200 mile drive home.  I ran the trailer through many different obstacles; open road with and without wind blowing, driving through towns, Interstate 95 from Vero Beach to Melbourne (about 1 hour’s drive), two lane highway with tractor trailers passing in the opposite direction at highway speeds… I got to experience several good examinations with the new hitch.  The results were nothing short of excellent!

Our trailer, approximately 5000 lbs. tracked virtually perfectly.  I would notice a slight ‘shove’ when a tractor trailer would pass by, but nothing that sent fear up my spine.  Sway was completely unnoticeable.  When researching this hitch, several people mentioned that this hitch would ‘pop’ or ‘snap’ occasionally.  I only noticed these sounds when making slow, sharp turns, but not once did I hear any such noise when on the open road.  Without any doubt, this hitch met all my expectations in a weight distribution with anti-sway system.

After using the Equal-i-zer, albeit one time, I am absolutely convinced that other hitches priced seven-time that of the Equal-i-zer cannot possibly be that much better.  My ride was everything I would expect with a WD, AS hitch.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that the Hensley is an outstanding hitch.  But more than ever, I’m certain that spending more than the price for an Equal-i-zer does not buy you a measurably better hitch system.

Link:  Equal-i-zer Hitch

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Longview Mirrors

I had a chance to give my Longview mirrors a good test the other day.  I towed my new travel trailer approximately 200 miles using these mirrors as my tow mirrors.  To start off, I like the way the mirrors slip over the existing mirrors on the tow vehicle.  It’s a nice-looking design when compared to the clamp-on styles that attach to the door side or front fenders.  But unfortunately, a tow mirror’s primary function is not to look good; they need to provide a good view along side of the trailer you are towing so the driver can see if there is any obstructions.  Regrettably, the Longview mirrors were not up to the task.

Slipping the mirrors over the vehicle mirror is snug, and I would suppose you would want that.  To get them properly aligned, I had to wiggle the mirror up -and-down while pushing them on to get them pushed on another ½ inch.  Then they attach using a plastic, threaded ‘hook’ that clips around the vehicle’s mirror housing.  Once hooked, you thread a thumb-nut onto the hook to lock the Longview mirror on.  The plastic ‘hook’ seems quite flimsy and I expect them to not last very long (but maybe I’ll be surprised).  Once hooked, all that is needed is to manually adjust the Longview mirrors and you’re off.

Driving down the road, the mirrors vibrate quite violently from a combination of wind and road surface coarseness.   The mirrors can barely be used in this fashion; the mirror-image is bouncing so aggressively that it’s difficult to focus on anything.  And as we know, when taking your eyes off the road to look into a mirror, time is something we don’t have a great deal of.  So a quick look into these mirrors for a side view of your trailer is not likely.  The problem doesn’t end there.  Due to the extreme vibrations of the mirror, the mirrors themselves work their way out of alignment.  Soon your brief glance into your Longview mirror offers up a jittery view of the pavement or a clouded sky.

Since we tested these Longview mirrors on a Ford, it’s possible that other Longview Mirrors may maintain a better fit on other manufacturer vehicles.  But I’m afraid I must say that I am not impressed with the set I have, and expect I will soon be shopping for another brand.

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Brought the camper home yesterday.  Thursday evening the dealership called to say that the repair work had been completed and we could pick up the TT sometime after 2:00 pm on Friday.  I made the 200 mile trip over to pick it up, looked at the work they did (which, by the way thought was very good), and pulled the TT home… again, about 200 miles.  This was the first substantial pull since we bought this trailer.  I’ll be writing some reviews of some of the items that were used during the pull (i.e the Equal-i-zer hitch, Longview tow mirrors, etc.), so keep an eye out for that.  I’ll admit I started the return trip out a bit white-knuckled, but after a while I was able to relax once I got familiar with the towing characteristics of the tow vehicle, trailer, hitch, etc.  Overall I can say that I was extremely impressed with the towing characteristics of this trailer.

Now the bad news.  Once we got the trailer parked, we noticed that the problem we had repaired returned.  Not in the exact same location… but very nearby.  So the repair that the dealership made held up fine, but this new problem makes me wonder if there is an underlying, bigger problem.  Apparently the jostling of towing the trailer exposed this latest situation.

I really dread having to tow that trailer all the way back to that dealership again, knowing it will be at least another three weeks turnaround time.  But I’ll make the call on Monday and get the ball rolling.

We still took advantage of having the trailer here.  Laura and I spent several hours loading stuff in the trailer, installing a few items, making some minor adjustments, cleaning, taking some measurements for future projects, etc.  It was nice to get inside and get some of these things done.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera along, so photos of our projects weren’t recorded.  I’ll get some photos to post later.

We are still going to try to get a weekend out camping in a couple of weeks or so.  We’re anxious to put the TT to use.